PPP turns to Peace Council for succour

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has appealed to the Peace Council to implore the Electoral Commission (EC) to reverse the disqualification of the party's flagbearer, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom and 11 others.

At a news conference held in Accra on Friday, PPP Policy Advisor, Kofi Asamoah said the current posture of the Commission demonstrates it is “out of control” and would need some guidance to be on the right track.

“We need to reverse this trend [because] the entrenched and belligerent posture [of the EC] will only lead this country to a point of no return,” he told the media.

The PPP has been consistent in its opposition to the disqualification handed its presidential candidate and 11 others by the Commission for flouting regulation 7 (2) b of the Constitutional Instrument (C.I.94).

EC boss, Charlotte Osei at a press briefing on Monday said the Commission would be unable to accept the nomination of Dr Nduom because he was not able to raise the 432 subscribers expected to endorse his nomination due to some anomalies discovered on his form.

She said: "One subscriber Richard Aseda ('Asida' on the Voters' Register), with Voter ID no 7812003957) endorsed the forms in two different districts (pages 21 and 39) The subscriber was found to be on the Voter's Register in one district thereby disqualifying his second subscription and reducing the total number of subscribers to below the minimum required by the Law."

"The same subscriber (Richard Aseda ('Asida') endorsed the form with different signatures in both portions of the nomination form. This raises questions as to the legitimacy of one or both signatures," she added.

The entrepreneur suspecting foul play pleaded the Commission to grant him some five minutes hearing to explain what really happened to his nomination form. This request was granted him by the Commission; however, detail of the discussion has not been made public.

Dr Nduom had said on the Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Thursday, that like the PPP, the EC also made a mistake when it issued a receipt to the party covering the filing fee of parliamentary candidates. The entrepreneur said instead of writing a GH1.7 million receipt to the PPP, the EC wrote GHC1,700.

Mr Siaw also said they discovered some mistakes in the nomination form given them by the Commission’s Akuapim North District office, but instead of making fuss about it they called the EC to have it resolved amicably.

He believes the EC could have reciprocated this gesture in an equal measure rather than the harsh decision it took against the party’s leader.

The PPP was unequivocal that the “current EC Commissioners are vindictive” and unfair in their treatment of the party.

Mr Siaw has urged the “silent majority in the country, the National Chief Imam, the Christian Council of Ghana, the National Peace Council and the Ghana Bar Association to call the EC to order.”